The Wolf and the Lapdog
by inquiete
Summary: Lucifer and the Agent have a conversation after the events in Hoof and Lap in which the Agent is really determined to get June out of Hell. He doesn't care much about stopping Lucifer right now, trapped in Hell, his only concern is getting June out. So he tries to convince Lucifer to "let her go" when that doesn't work he switches to trying to convince the Carnies to "repent."


**Alight, I know I have In Defiance Of God still to write, but I have absolutely no time with school. For some reason this semester's been kicking my ass. However, I did have an idea for a short one-shot though I felt more strongly about it when I started then when I finished. Basically I noticed that there's not a lot of TDC fanfics about post-Alleluia! (Granted there's not a lot of TDC fanfics period but still...) So the premise of the story is that Lucifer and the Agent have a conversation after the events in Hoof and Lap in which the Agent (still out of it from the drink Painted Doll gave him) is really determined to get June out of Hell. He doesn't care much about stopping Lucifer right now, trapped in Hell, his only concern is getting June out. So he tries to convince Lucifer to "let her go" when that doesn't work he switches to trying to convince all the Carnies to "repent" and all that jazz. Sorry if it doesn't sound that interesting, and I apologize for the weak reason for Lucifer going to see the Agent. I just needed a reason for him to do so, and that was the only plausible reason I could think of. Anyway...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own TDC, Alleluia! or anything else the boys may create. Oh and also the line "So what if I'm a puppet...once upon a time...you were too!" is actually one of my favorite lines from FFVII: Advant Children so I don't own that either.**

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 ** _Enjoy..._ **

The Wolf and the Lapdog

"I fear you are making a grave mistake placing yourself in Lucifer's hands." -Exile of Lucifer, D. Brian Shafer

Lucifer walked through his carnival at a slow leisurely pace. Despite the chaotic circumstances-that he himself and thrown into action-he moved as if he was in no hurry and had all the time in the world. His steps were the sure, precise, and confident stride of someone who was in complete control of whatever situation they were in and of unquestioned authority-because he was. Lucifer's rule went unquestioned here in his Carnival. He gave the Carnies under his care shelter, acceptance, and purpose-he neither judged them nor condemned them for being who they were and in returned they gave him-of their own freewill-their unswerving loyalty. It was the least they could do-they believed-for the Devil who accepted them when no one else would.

Though there was one currently residing in the Carnival who did not feel the way the Carnies did. Someone who viewed Lucifer as a monster. That was fine by Lucifer, he wasn't visiting the Lapdog to convert him. (Lucifer's lips curled in a sneer as he thought of God's insistence on putting every creature under his yoke.) No, Lucifer had no interest in changing the Agent's mind. However, it would be beneficial for him to understand that escape was impossible, and to try would be rather…painful. After all, it would certainly put a ranker in Lucifer's plans if word got to Heaven that their _precious_ Agent had been captured before the Twin could complete his job.

Once Lucifer reached the tent that the Agent was being stored (he had been moved out of the stables) Lucifer made a motion with his hand, and the Carny standing outside the entrance parted the flap for him allowing Lucifer to step through.

…

The Agent felt a kick from the chair he was tied to and a gruff voice growled, "Wake up, you've got a guest."

The Agent glanced up to see a dark, blurry shape standing in front of the entrance-way to the tent. He squinted, trying to make the shape come into focus, but that only caused the blurriness to get worse. It'd been like this ever since June forced that Hellion swill down his throat. He came to on and off: always disoriented, vision always impaired, tongue always thick with cotton balls, but every time he came to he always sought her out. He always tried to convince her to change her mind, to stop this, to come home-back to Heaven-with him. He was sure, he told her, that if she repented; if she truly, sincerely repented and promised never to overstep herself again that all would be forgiven. And then she could go home-with him-and they could be together again. Somewhere in the back of the Agent's mind he knew it wasn't that simple, but in his drug-fogged state he had begun to truly believe that, and now all he had to do was convince…

JUNE!  
The Agent's eyes flew open and he began searching around the tent in a frantic frenzy, trying to find her-had to find her. Finally, his blurry eyes landed on her silhouette standing in the corner of the tent next to a greaser-looking boy with a scorpion tattoo on his neck. The Agent took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh of relief, she was still here, and his vision must be clearing if he could make out the tattoo on the Carny's neck…

"Hey!" A loud crack sounded in his ear as a harsh blow of dealt to his face. "Show some respect, dog!" The stinging hand grabbed him by the chin and turned his head so he was looking towards the front of the tent. The Agent's eyes cleared a little further and he finally could make out the horns and red skin that could belong to none other than Lucifer Morningstar-the Devil himself. He stood in front of the Agent, just inside the tent with his lapdog standing just a little bit behind him.

Lucifer cracked a smile, "Ah, that's better. Are we awake now?"

The Agent glared defiantly at him, "yeah we're awake. Are you a bastard?"

There was a cry of outrage from the gathering sinners, and a few even advanced on him. The one that struck him earlier (a large, brutish man with claw marks down the side of his face) raised his hand as if to strike him again. Lucifer raised his hand, and all the Carnies stilled, their voices coming to a synchronized hush, it seemed like the very air was holding its breath-waiting for his signal to breathe again. The Agent felt sick to his stomach watching it. His control over them was absolute, his word unquestioned, and his whims met-without hesitation. None of them seemed eager, or even inclined to contradict him, in fact, they all leaped up to _defend_ him-defend _Satan_! The Agent gulped, even June seemed outraged by his insult. _Dear God,_ the Agent thought, horrified, _am I too late to save her_?

Lucifer snapped his fingers, drawing the Agent's attention back to him. "Focus! I haven't the time to coax you through this."

"Oh, I'm sorry your Most Rottenness, did you say something?" The Agent replied bitterly. He was in no mood for his usual diplomacy, nor was he in the mood to deal with Lucifer.

Lucifer scowled. "I asked how you've enjoyed your stay. Seeing as you'll be here for a while you might as well be comfortable." The Agent responded by spitting a mouthful of phlegm into Lucifer's face. The Carny moved to strike him again, but Lucifer motioned him away. "Now was that really necessary?" Wordlessly, the Ticket-Keeper handed Lucifer a rag to wipe his face with. "After all, I'm just trying to make sure my guest is comfortable."

The Agent scowled, "Applesauce! I'm a prisoner and we both know it. So why don't you cut the high act, and tell me what you want?"

Lucifer shrugged, "No act. I merely want to make sure you're not thinking about making a break for the exit. That would be really inconvenient…" A conspiratorial gleam caught in Lucifer's eye. "But…if you have any…secrets…you want to share I'd be happy to listen."

"Fuck you," The Agent growled.

Lucifer tsked, "Now, now there's no point in keeping up loyalties. You're down here, after all." A smug smirk tugged at the corner of Lucifer's mouth. "With us. And even if you did escape, which is unlikely, there's no way _He'd_ take you back. You failed Him. And in doing so gave into sin," he motioned to June. "You were supposed to come see _me_ , but instead you came seeking _her_. You came wanted to be with her…in… _every_ sense of the word. Do you really think He'd take you back after that transgression?"

The Agent prepared to spit another lob of saliva at the Devil, but the scarred Carny clamped his hand over the Agent's mouth, forcing him to either swallow or choke. The Agent swallowed and came out gasping when the Carny let go of his mouth. Lucifer cocked an eyebrow, "Well, at least now we know you swallow." The Carnies chuckled at their Lord's raunchy joke.

The Agent gritted his teeth, "You…you fakeloo artist! What makes you better than the Author anyway? How can you stand there, in all your conceit, and claim to be superior to the one who MADE you!?"

Lucifer scoffed, "I would give you the list, but nobody has time for that."

"You fakeloo artist!" The Agent repeated. "You're a fraud, a sham you're not any better than Him, and you damn well know it! You're less, you're pathetic!"

The Carny struck him again and this time Lucifer made no move to stop him. He made no move at all. Just stood there, silent, glaring at him while the Ticket-Keeper stood there worrying over his shoulder.

"You might want to retract that statement." Lucifer replied in a cold, dangerous tone of voice.

"Go to Hell!" The Agent replied.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, I'll get right on that."

The Agent's eyes flickered around the room. "Can't you see?! Can't you see what a fraud he is? Can't you see that he's no better than the filth of the Earth?" His eyes ricocheted back to June who was glaring at him in contempt. "Can't you see what he's trying to do? How he's twisting you to fit his own perverse purpose."

The Ticket-Keeper steps forward and spoke coldly. "You _literally_ have no idea what you're talking about. So why don't you shut up 'cause no one here's interested."

The Agent shook his head, "June! Please! You don't belong here, you know you don't belong here! Just repent, that's all you need to do. Repent! And then we can go home."

The Carny with scorpion tattoo scoffed, "give me a break." He shook his head, "hate to break it to you, but she is home." A pause. "We all are."

The Agent shook his head even harder. "NO! This place is a trap, a cage, and a prison! Can't you see he's holding you hostage? Can't you understand? He's not your protector! He's your jailor, your tyrant, and your betrayer. You think he cares about you he only cares about _himself_!"

Lucifer chuckled bitterly, "What are you trying to-"

The Agent turned and glared at the Devil. "Lucifer!" He interrupted, "Let her go, just let June go! She's not yours and she never will be! Just let her go-stop this madness, stop sending souls up to Heaven, and let me and June GO!"

Lucifer tsked, "'let her go?' Well, that would imply that I was holding her against her will wouldn't it?" He turned to Painted Doll, "Doll? Am I keeping you against your will? Do you want to go with him-to be 'redeemed'?" Lucifer scoffed at the end. Painted Doll looked him straight in the eye, gave him a saucy smile, and shook her head. Lucifer nodded as if this was what he expected. Then he raised his voice to include everyone else in the tent. "How about the rest of you? Are you being held against your will? Do you wish to gravel to God for a place in Heaven?" A cry of outrage rang out and Carnies spat at the Agent's feet and flipped off the heavens to show that they have no intention of leaving. They looked to Lucifer with eyes shining with warmth, and a cry of "Hail Lucifer!" was taken up by the Carnies in a show of support. Lucifer's chest puffed out in both pride and affection, and he nodded his head to show he understood and was pleased by their show of loyalty. Then he glanced down at the Agent, his face twisting into a sneer. "See? You're the only one here still loyal to God. And the only hostage I have is…you."

The Agent twisted trying to break his bonds, "You're a monster! A disgrace!"

Lucifer yawned, "You're pretty cute yourself, kid. But I can see this conversation isn't going anywhere, so let's wrap this up." He walked over, and grasped the Agent's chin in his clawed hand, forcing him to look at him. "To be clear I don't give a shit if you're still a good, little delusional solider. I don't care if you're still a willing slave. You are nothing more than a means to an end…here…and up there. So why don't you make yourself comfortable and more amicable because you'll be staying here a while." Lucifer dropped the Agent's chin, and walked away laughing.

The Agent could feel the ropes giving. He drooped to make it look like he was giving up as an idea come to him. "So what if I'm a puppet…" he murmured under his breathe-working the ropes. "Once upon a time…" Curious Lucifer turned back to the Agent just has his ropes gave. "You were too!" He shouted before tackling Lucifer to the ground. The Carnies where so shocked that no one had time to grab him before he grabbed Lucifer, and before they knew it both the Lapdog and the Wolf were on the ground exchanging blows. Lucifer laughed, dodged the Agent's clumsy attempts to strike him, and landed a blow into the side of the Agent's head (unbalancing him even further) he kicked the Agent square in the chest sending him sailing back into the chair he was bound in.

"Sire, are you alright?!" The Ticket-Keeper asked moving to help Lucifer up. However, Lucifer waved off his friend's assistance still laughing.

"Well, it would appear the dog's got some bite after all." He snickered as he stood up.

"Sire…" The Ticket-Keeper began only to be silenced by an assuring hand on his shoulder.

"As amusing as that was, I think that's about enough for today." He turned his attention to the Tamer. "Rebind him, and make sure he stays that way."

When the Tamer nodded his terse agreement Lucifer turned to leave when the Agent spat around a mouthful of blood, "How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning."

Barely looking behind him Lucifer added, "And gag him!"

With that he left the little runt alone with a group of angry Carnies. The Agent slumped in defeat, not only did he fail the Author, he failed June too. Now not only was the war still going on, there was an imposter masquerading as him, and June was still trapped in this Hell Hole with no sign of wanting to leave. He glanced up to see this sweet, kind girl stare down at him, a twinkle of mischief and loathing in her eyes, and an animal's gag held in her grasp. Before the Agent could protest, or try and change her mind the Tamer grabbed him by the back of the head, opened his mouth, and June fitted the gag in place. Once she was sure the gag was secure she gave a self-satisfied smirk, and walked away. Leaving the Agent alone, trapped, and in pain.

 _There's got to be a way to save her, to save us both._ He thought.

 _…There just had to be…_


End file.
